Wanganui

When Wanganui Security invests heavily in staff training, some of their competitors ask “but what happens if those staff leave?”  Co-owner Bronwyn Paul always replies “what if we don’t train them and they stay?”

Having worked in security for over 20 years, Bronwyn says no two days are ever the same.  “There are always new threats.  The whole world of security changed on 9/11.  Suddenly, we had one company asking us to open their mail.  That changed the way we worked - nothing was normal any more.  It reinforced that we can’t take anything for granted.  The white powder might be baking soda but it might not be.  It is vital we teach our guys not to be complacent because any alarm they go to could be a real threat.   That is why we put so much focus on continuous training,” she says.

Wanganui Security believes that better trained staff become better people and help create a better company.  With that in mind, it is perhaps a little surprising that the company does not pay for external training up front – the staff do.  “What we do is give staff who pass a pay rise and an extra week’s holiday for that year.  That extra week usually covers the cost of the course or study and the pay rise is permanent,” Bronwyn says.

She points to other companies in the industry which send ten people on a course and only one passes.  “When you ask them what incentives the staff had to pass, they say none.  They argue the qualification belongs to the person not the company so it is not their business.  I couldn’t see the sense of that reasoning because having qualified staff improves the company,” she says.

Bronwyn explains that Incentives really matter because “some our guys have never passed a qualification before.  They have not achieved at school.  Passing the security qualifications let’s them know they have found something they are good at – it’s a really big deal for them and neat for management too.”

Before they can even begin contemplating training, every potential staff member must pass a strict screening process.  “Security is not always a safe industry.  As a company, we need to know that all our staff have the right character to keep our clients safe and our client’s property safe.  We simply have to know,” Bronwyn says.

The strict screening and profiling system draws on the work of the FBI.  Wanganui Security says they always check rigorously and always follow up.  “We check education, health, employment, credit, criminal history, driving record, even hobbies and interests.  We ask about interests so that we can build team skills around activities they like.  Many have excelled in sports but not necessarily education in the past,” Bronwyn says. 

She admits it is a pretty intensive process.  “Guards coming from other companies say it is more rigorous.  People are often going to be working by themselves; we have to know they will be ok.  We have to know they will fit in because teamwork is big here.  It does cost but not as much as the problems if you don’t do it,” she says. 

The result of the screening and the training is a small company based in a provincial town which is consistency able to foot it against and frequently beat the big players in the industry. 

“We have always strived for excellence.  That attitude comes through in our staff and how we work with customers.  It gives your company the very best chance.  We can honestly say to our customers that our guards are not just guys off the street, they are trained not just to our company standards but to New Zealand national standards,” Bronwyn says.

The continuous learning process applies to the two owners as well.  “It’s a very technical and innovative business.  I’m still learning,” she says.  The owners will pull on the uniforms themselves and head out when the company is busy or when they want to check the quality of services.  “We never wanted to have a culture where we sat in the office and said how it is going to be done.  The guards don’t work for us, they work with us.” 

Heading out on patrol has a huge impact.  “It lets the guards know that we are always alongside them even if we are not physically there.  The more senior guards are then taking on the same mentor role with new guards – showing them how we do things in our company.  We know it is seriously unusual for the owners to do this but it works,” Bronwyn says.

It is not all about patrolling the streets.  The new technology is staggering.  Wanganui Security received a Genesis award for innovation when it developed and helped introduce home detention in New Zealand.  “This was leading edge stuff.  We actually helped get the legislation passed and brought the technology to New Zealand.  We won the tender process because we knew the product and the legislation.  A six-month trial became four years.  It was a huge learning curve,” she says.

The technology they were using had the capability to take pictures and even do remote breath-alcohol tests.  “We were pretty far ahead of the times.  I most remember the case of a young girl.  Her regular photo came through and it looked like she was getting ready to go out.  That would have been a serious breach of her home detention and could mean prison.  I rang her and talked with her for hours.  In the end she stayed home.  She wrote us a letter later saying we saved her future that night.  Recently, she sent a photo of her graduation. That was a really neat one,” says Bronwyn.

Wanganui Security are now on the response side of home detention rather than the monitoring.  Bronwyn believes losing that contract may be partly because they have Wanganui in their name.  “What’s in a name?  Everything!  We were disappointed to lose the contract but we are still passionate about the product.  We realised we needed a generic name that didn’t take us back to a region for nationwide tenders.  We formed Alarmguard for that reason.” 

Bronwyn’s advice is to focus on what the customer is getting.  “We want our customers to keep coming back and some have been doing that for twenty years.  It is not the size of the company which counts – it’s the size of the heart in the company.  You need a dogged determination to succeed.  How you work through challenges is what makes you a better company in the end.”